Introducing TOD RAINES TOOLS – new woodturning tool bars

Well it has been a journey of fun, learning and reward. I started the process of developing Tod Raines Tools woodturning tool bars in early February. I have been working on practicing my CAD skills using Autodesk Fusion 360. These woodturning tool bars are fairly straight forward to design. I shopped the drawings around to my primary fabricator and a couple of other machine shops. It turns out my fabricator had the best price and time frame. My fabricator is a growing company and has just begun the move to CNC milling. They will be expanding their CNC milling and lathe work over the next year. This is good news for me. I am investing in them as they invest in their future. I like being a small business owner and I like working with other small business owners.

I have a long time friend who has spent his career in the metal plating industry in various roles. I trust him and his judgement for my well being as a business owner and somebody that knows nothing about the plating industry. His guidance was valuable in adding Nickel plating to the tool bars. Introducing the two new TOD RAINES TOOLS tool bars – The Hook Tool Bar and the Half Round Tool Bar. Both bars are milled from 3/4″ diameter cold rolled 1045 steel. Both are 12″ overall length with a 2.5″ long 5/8″ diameter shank. – the Hook Tool Bar has a 5/16″ hole in the end with two #10-32 set screws. This was built to hold the Michael Hosaluk Hook Tool but can also be used for any other cutter that will fit. – the Half Round Tool Bar has a #10-32 threaded hole and washer head screw at the end of the bar for securing the T1 HSS Teardrop cutter bit that I also manufacture and sell. This bar can be used in either orientation – on the flat for a bit of torque resistance while hollowing; and on the round for any angle of shear scraping.

Here is a short video highlighting the CNC milling of the two new TOD RAINES TOOLS tool bars